New Lizzie Borden Evidence Could Blow Up 120-Year-Old Axe Murder Case

Lizzie Borden, the scariest librarian in the West! Have you heard of her? Back in 1892, she was tried for the murder of her own dear parents -- apparently by hatchet! It was a grisly murder and Lizzie became the O.J. Simpson of her day. And just like Juice, she was eventually acquitted of the murders. No one else was charged.

But the legend of Lizzie Borden, alleged ax murderer, lived on. Her neighbors shunned her and children would chant this skipping-rope rhyme:

Lizzie Borden took an axeAnd gave her mother forty whacks.When she saw what she had doneShe gave her father forty-one.

(It was actually just 18 and 11 whacks, respectively.) And now, after 120 years, new evidence has surfaced! Could it solve the mystery of what really happened to Andrew and Abby Borden?

The Bordens' lawyer, Andrew Jackson Jennings, kept the evidence from the trial in his possession: The supposed murder weapon, among other things. But it turns out he also kept handwritten journals, and these have just been given to the Fall River Historical Society. They are being transcribed, and they reveal details never mentioned in the trial!

In one of the journals, Jennings kept notes from interviews he conducted for the trial. Before, Lizzie Borden's father had been painted as a cold miser. But according to witness statements in the journals, it appears Andrew Borden doted on his daughters and wanted the best for them.

We'll have to wait for the journals to get transcribed and published by the Historical Society before we learn more. If you can believe it, Jennings only got an hour in court to defend Lizzie. The prosecution got more than a week! So there must be far more to this story than we know now. Did Jennings himself believe Lizzie was innocent? And if so, did he suspect anyone else of the murder? Perhaps we'll find out!

Have you heard of Lizzie Borden? Are you curious to hear more details about the case?